Is your new year’s resolution to play more Pokémon? Then keep reading to learn about Pokémon Bank, a new feature that will revolutionize the way you deposit, store, and manage up to 3,000 Pokémon in an online PC!

Since a Pokémon trainer can only carry a maximum of 6 Pokémon in his/her party at a time, and ever since Pokémon Red and Blue, players have stored their excess Pokémon in a PC box at the Pokémon Center in-game. What started as 150 different types of Pokémon has now evolved into 649 Pokemon in the National Pokédex as of X and Y.

With competitive playing, mass breeding, and such a large quantity of Pokémon, Nintendo has developed the Pokémon Bank, also known as Brigette’s Pokémon Storage System, to allow players to increase the amount of Pokémon that can be stored in a PC. A fictional character, Brigette, is the head of the online cloud storage system that allows players to store, at max, up to 3,000 different Pokémon. The online system is composed of 30 different PC boxes, each with a capacity of 30 Pokémon. An internet connection, as well as the application on a Nintendo 3DS is required in order to use Pokémon Bank. Nintendo does charge an annual fee of $4.99 for the application.

Due to high volume on the Nintendo eShop, the original release date, 27 December 2013 has been delayed. However, when the application is released (which should be soon), there will be a free trial period for Pokémon Bank available until 31 January 2014.

Flow Chart for Pokémon Bank

Above you can see a flow chart (click to enlarge) for which games are compatible with Pokémon Bank. An additional application, Poké Transporter, can also be downloaded. Poké Transporter allows players to upload Pokémon Bank from Pokémon White, Black, White 2, and Black 2 into the Pokémon Bank. From there, players can transport Pokémon into X and Y. Along with dozens of other features that application provides, bringing certain characters from Pokémon White, Black, White 2, and Black 2 into Pokémon Bank will spur new events in the Kalos region.

If you need any more convincing to download Pokémon Bank, Nintendo will be distributing one Celebi per Pokémon Bank account.